Improvement in velocipedes for picking cotton



, & 6. E. H ESS.

velo cipedqs for Picking Cotton. N0. 157,824.

Patented Dec. 15,1874.

ATTIIBNE YS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFEIoE.

CHARLES HESS AND GEORGE E. HESS, OE HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA.

IMPROVEMENT IN VELOCIPEDES FOR PlCKlNG COTTON.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 157,824, dated December15, 1874; application filed March 23, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, OnAELEs Bass and GEORGE E.HEss, of Huntsville, inthe county of Madison and State of Alabama, have invented a new andImproved Cotton-Picking Sulky; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 is anelevation or view from the rear.

The invention relates to means whereby a person may be enabled,conveniently and with the least possible labor, to pick cotton from thepod or stalk, and place the same within a bag, the said picker and hisbag being sup ported relatively to each other during the wholeoperation, while the bag is readily conveyed along from point to pointWithout manipulation.

These means will first be fully described, in connection with all thatis necessary to a full understanding thereof, and then pointed out inthe claim.

A A represent two wheels placed tandem, or in longitudinal alignment,the same being journaled on stationary axles B B and between twoparallel boards or plates, 0 O. 1) is a seat, having the back d, andplaced just in front of the rear wheel A. E is a platform over the frontwheel, and having upwardlycurved or concaved strips F, in which reststhe bag, whose inner or front end is secured by strings passed throughholes ff in opposite ends of one of the strips F. This bagholder may beslightly inclined to the front, and is supported on uprights orstandards G and H H.

The cotton-picker straddles the sulky and propels with his feet on theground, passing between two rows, stopping at each successive pair ofopposite hills, pulling the cotton on each side of him, and filling hisbag as he proceeds.

The advantage of this device is that the operator is not compelled tostoop, has the weight of his body always supported while picking, and isnot inconvenienced by the necessity of continually handling, adjusting,and carrying his bag on his person.

We are aware that a velocipede has been heretofore employed for the samepurpose, but differently constructed in front, so as to receive abasket, while we employ the same wellknown vehicle in connection withmeans for carrying a bag in a convenient and novel man- JOHN W. RAINES,E. LATHAM.

